New rules for oil-packing ‘bomb trains’ leave all parties dissatisfied

After 141 oil train derailments and fires in 2014, US federal regulators were forced to devise new rules for the vehicles. However, the regulations have sparked criticism from nearly all interested parties, including politicians and activists.

The trains in question are often called “bomb trains”
because their black, torpedo-shaped tanks are filled with
potentially explosive crude oil. They are an increasingly common
sight on the nation’s rail systems as they carry a million
barrels of oil per day to refineries along the East Coast.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) spent two years
formulating the recently released new train rules. The
regulations introduce new tank car standards for oil and ethanol,
and mandate the use of electronically controlled brakes.

"The truth is that 99.9 percent of these shipments reach
their destination safely," DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx said
to the press. "The accidents involving crude and ethanol that
have occurred, though, have shown us that 99.9 percent isn't
enough. We have to strive for perfection."

Under the new rules, the oldest and least-safe tank cars,
DOT-111s, long known to be inappropriate for transporting
flammable material, would be replaced with the jacketed version
of newer cars called CPC-1232s within three years. These would
have thicker shells, higher safety shields and better fire
protection. Unjacketed CPC-1232s will be phased out within five
years.

There has been criticism over how much time has been allotted to
making the change over, including from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“The good news is that the standards are predictable, but the
bad news is that the phase-out time is too lenient,” Schumer
told The New York Times.

There
have been five explosions and spills this year in North America –
four in the United States and one in Canada. In February, a
CSX-owned oil train derailed and exploded in Mount Carbon, West
Virginia, resulting in a multi-day fire.Accordingto Vice News, “several cars tumbled into the
Kanahwa River, forcing two downstream water treatment plants to
shut down.”

Notably, the tankers in
use were actually the newer CPC-1232s that DOT is hoping to phase
in, and at 33 mph the train was moving even slower than the
agency’s new rules would mandate.

In July 2013, 47 people
died in Canada after a runaway train derailed and exploded in the
city of Lac-Meganti, Quebec.

Local and state
officials have also been critical about difficulty in predicting
when an oil train will pass through. Nonetheless, the new rules
fall short of insisting that railroads notify communities of oil
train traffic. Railroad companies will only be required to have a
“point of
contact” for
information related to the hazardous material.

A recent study by the US
Department of Transportation forecasts 207 train derailments over
the next 20 years involving oil and ethanol trains, causing
billions of dollars in damages and untold loss of life.